It's a strategy that was used when a major thunder-and-lightning storm rolled into Calgary on Tuesday evening.

The more than 40 dogs that spent the night sleeping at a southeast daycare and boarding facility were not disturbed by booming thunder and heavy rain. Classical music helped keep the dozens of dogs at BowDog relaxed during the storm, said Nicole Hnatuk, client relations and marketing manager.

"Thunder can be a really loud and shocking thing. . . . As long as we remain calm and the dogs take from that leadership, we tend not to have a problem with it," Hnatuk said.

Dogs staying at the facility were asleep and listening to calming classical music, as they do every night, when a thunderstorm hits.

Hnatuk's advice for pet owners during a thunderstorm: "Keep really calm, show (pets) that everything is totally fine, keep them in a quiet room (and) put on calming music."

The Calgary Humane Society's dogs were also soothed by songs during Tuesday's spectacular lightning and thunder show.

"We have classical music playing all evening and that can help drown out some of the noises and it's been shown to ease a dog's stress level," said Christy Thompson, manager of communications at the society.

Thompson said each of the facility's pets reacted differently to Tuesday's late night downpour.

"Some animals don't react at all to the loud noises and a lot of our more fearful animals, definitely, they wouldn't have slept," Thompson said.

She said dogs that are scared during thunderstorms may shake, whine, pant, urinate and try to find somewhere to hide.

Thundershirt - a form-fitting vest used to reduce anxiety - has been used on the society's dogs and is used by some of the organization's employees on their own dogs during thunderstorms.

At the Calgary Zoo, animals were moved to indoor facilities when the storm hit, said communications manager Laurie Skene.

"Certainly animals don't really like thunder and lightning, but they're all inside and they have shelters . . . so they're all fine," Skene said.

Animals aren't the only ones that don't like loud weather.

The lightning show and accompanying thunder kept people across the city from receiving a good night of shut-eye.

A lack of concentration, moodiness and a decrease in productivity are behaviours employers may see the day after a sleep-disrupting storm.

"You get people who will act out when they're overly tired," said Gary Agnew, partner at Cenera, a human-resource and business consulting firm.

If employers notice an employee having a rough day, they should ask them about it and give the employee an opportunity to talk.

"I'm sure there are a few people who didn't get any sleep at all and ended up calling in and saying 'I can't come in today,' " Agnew said.

Calling a boss, explaining the situation and taking a day off is "better than them coming in and not being productive or being antagonistic," Agnew said.

In an industry where safety is important, Dan MacLennan, executive director of the Alberta Construction Safety Association, said if an employee isn't able to do his job, he needs to speak with his employer and let him know.

"Nobody wants anybody who's not fully alert and able to function fully at the job," MacLennan said. "Everybody wants to make sure they come to work ready to go and they go home safely,"

At the Humane Society, Thompson said many of the organization's employees, who are pet owners themselves, were kept awake by their frightened animals two nights in a row.

"There are definitely some people that are walking in red-eyed," Thompson said.

She said employees keep a sense of humour about sleepless nights caused by anxious animals and are understanding of one another.

"I think because of this unique situation that we're in - knowing how much each of us loves our animals in particular - we're probably a little more sympathetic than other employers."

AKlingbeil@calgaryherald.com

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